Drier



March 12, 193 F. D. BROWN ET AL 1,994,083

DRIER I Filed July 30, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l w\ mw 9 Inventors Hana/ls F0039? BIUWU J M44556)" By KWM Attorney Illlllllllllllllllll'l I I I I l I \\Q March 12, 1935.

F. BROWN ET AL DRIER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 50, 1932 Allomey Patented Mar. 12, 1935 'umrso STATES DRIER Francis Dodge Brown and. Ralph-.J .=:Musser, 'Los Angeies, Calif., .assignors, wbyndirect and 'mesne assignments, of one-third lto .Eharles :Alan,

Pomona, Califl, one-thirdflto Francis "Morn Goldsberry, and one-thirdto said'Brown 3 Application July 30, 1932,- Serial-No; 626,274

' 2 Claims This invention relates to'a drier for'loose-mate- 'ri'alsuohas poultryand live stock food pellets. In the embodinient'shown herein, it is adapted for 'drying and dehydrating pellets formed of mash-and to'effcct some degree of 'predigestion. However; his not limited'to' such use.

*The-objects of this invention are-to provide a,

dri'er-which is compact and wherein the material being treated passes continuously 'throughf the drier' from an inlet to an outlet. Another object 'ofthis invention is to'provideadrie'r having a high thermal efficiency. More specific objects or this inventionare to provide a drier-wherein 'there is -a'lcng path of travel for the material a very-:compact space; a series-of rotatable conicalfidrums for the material to-pass through iiniserialtimgheat being suppliedby radiation, convectionandt-conductionfrom the exterior to :the interior of the-drums and heat being supplied rdirectlyrto the interior of the drums by passage ofhot'gases including those ofcombustion there- .through; --anddetails "of structure, arrangement and association iof the various-elements. contributto rattainmentof the broad objects. of invention. I

These objects together-with other objects and corresponding accomplishments are obtained. by means of the'embo'diment of our invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a complete drier unit; Figs. 2 and 3 are sections as seen on the lines correspondinglynumbered in Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a fragment of the section shown in Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings,

' the drier comprises a drying section A and a heat generator B. Although a tier of four conical shafts.

drums are shown, it will be obvious as the description proceeds that a number of tiers side '7 by side are within the scope of the invention.

The drying section comprises a casing 5 having end frames provided with bearings 6 for drum The casing may be constructed in any suitable manner and preferably has walls of heat insulating material. These may be arranged with hinged panels. the casing is no part of our invention and the details thereof are not shown. End walls for the casing are provided by castings 12a and 12b and provided with outwardly extending flanges 1'7 best However, the specific form of (C1. B l-. 5)

shcwrrinFig; '4, 'toKoverlap theouter faces of th? castings 12a'and 12b atthe'margins'of'openings and? prevent the material discharged from-the "drums passing into'chamber 13. The small ends to overlie the inner walls of'c'astings 12a -'andfl1;2b at the margins of n s for the small ends of the drums and seal the drums from th h m' against oss or the -material being dried,

"At the small ends of thedrums are-short spiral l0- "ibbons orfrlights 19 which form startingiiigihts and initiate movement of'the material into the drums. Extending from the inner, endsflof the flights 19 are lifters '20 in the'form of'ribs. On

the shaft 16 are sprocket wheels 21*forgearing '15 to sprocket chains to efiect rotation of the cones. The ends ofadjacent drumsare placed in communication by cast housings. Eachfcast housing comprises a dome section Z'Zanda hopper'action 23. The dome portions extend over 'thelarge endsof the drums and the, hopper portions extend over andrinto the'small ends of the drums. These housing sections may be bolted or otherwise 1 secured to the castings 12a and 12b. At the small end of the 'upperdrum is a'hopper housing sec- 3 tion 24 which is connected to a'hopper'section 25 leading from a material feeder 26. The feeder is of a type'well' known'in the art"for-positively feeding material and is driven from a sprocket wheel 27 mounted on its shaft 28. At the bottom 30 of the tier of drums and at the large end of the last drum is a casting 29 having an opening 30 cormnunicating with chamber 13. There is a discharge feeder 31 below the casting 29 and in cornmunication therewith. It willbe noted that the 85 section 25 is an'outlet for hot gas to which a 40 pipe 32 is connected. This pipe leads to a. suction fan 33 which draws spent hot gases from the drier. The, bottom of the drier is formed by a wall or fioor of refractory material.

The heat generator comprises a fresh air intake 3% leading to a combustion chamber 35. This combustion chamber is vertical and separate from the drying section. It is preferably lined with refractory material and at the top a flue 36 of similar material extends over the casing and forms a top arched wall for the casing. Within the combustion chamber is a burner 37 and as shown may use gas or oil.

In the operation of the drier, burner 37 is lighted and the fan 33 started. The materialto be of the drums haveinwardly. directed flanges-18 5 dried such as wet poultry or live stock food pellets is fed into the small end of the upper drum by means of feeder 26. The drums may be geared together by the sprockets 21 and sprocket chains and are driven by any suitable source of power. The material to be dried passes into the uppermost drum at its small end and is started through the drum by the flights 19. The material is carried upward in the drums by rotation of the latter and turned over. This agitates and turns over the material so that aeration and more effective drying is accomplished. Due to centrifu gal action, the pellets are caused to travel toward the large end of the drum. The lifters 20 raise and turn over the material aiding in aeration and drying. After the material passes from the large end of a drum it falls into a hopper section 23 and is delivered to the small end of the nearest lower drum. This continues so that the material travels through a long path in a very compact space, is in contact with a large drying area and finally reaching the outlet. Heat from the combustion chamber passes upwardly to the flue 36 and thence downwardly over the outside of the drums to the opening 30 and thence upwardly through the drums in reverse direction to the path of travel of the pellets, the spent gas finally being drawn out-by the fan 33. The interiors of the drums are sealed from the exteriors. The top drum receives the greatest amount of heat from the chamber 13 being closest to the intake from flue 36. Heat is transferred to the material within the drums through the shells by radiation, convection and conduction. The hot gases passing through the cones directly contact material. The gases of combustion are such as to prevent oxidation of the mash pellets and aid them in retain ing their initial color.

What we claim is:

l. A dehydrator and drier for loose friable material comprising a drying section including a casing, a tier of rotatable conical drums therein disposed on substantially horizontal axes side by side with the large end of each drum contiguous to the small end of its adjacent drum, housings for the contiguous ends of the drums placing them progressively in communication in zigzag formation, an intake in said housing at the top whereby material to be dried may be fed into the small end of the uppermost drum and pass to its large end and thence in seriatim travel through all said drums, a discharge outlet at the bottom of said casing, means to rotate said drums and thereby to turn over the material and by centrifugal action cause travel longitudinally through said drums, there being a hot gas inlet for said casing whereby hot gas may be passed into said casing and about said drums, there being a communication passage between the space in said casing about said drums opening to said housings adjacent said discharge outlet whereby the hot gas may pass from said casing to and through said drums in a path of travel opposite to said material, and there being a spent gas outlet communieating with said housings adjacent said intake.

2. A dehydrator and drier for loose friable material comprising a drying section including a casing, a tier of rotatable conical drums therein disposed on substantially horizontal axes side by side with the large end of each drum contiguous to the small end of its adjacent drum, housings for the contiguous ends of the drums placing them in communication in zigzag formation, an intake in said housing at the top whereby material to be dried may be fed into the small end of the uppermost drunrand pass to its large end and thence in seriatim through all said drums, a discharge outlet at the bottom of said casing, means to rotate said drums and thereby to turn over the material and'by centrifugal action cause travel longitudinally through said drums; a hot gas generator, a flue leading from said generator to the top of said casing whereby hot gas may be passed into said casing and downwardly about said drums, there'being a communication passage between the space in said casing about said drums opening to said housings adjacent said discharge outlet whereby the hot gas may pass from said casingv to and thence through said drums in a path of travel opposite to said material, and a suction fan connected to said housings adjacent said intake to induce passage of the hot gas through said drying section.

FRANCIS DODGE BROWN. RALPH J. MUSSER. 

